ROS and Mitochondria in Nervous System Function and Disease

27—29 March 2017

Charles Darwin House, London, UK

A Biochemical Society Focused Meeting

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondria have key roles in neuronal function and neurological disease. Many outstanding questions remain about the basic mechanisms involving ROS and normal neuronal function and how they contribute to disease. This meeting will provide a cutting edge forum to address these issues by bringing together leading scientists, as well as researchers who are new to the field,to present their current research and discuss future directions.

ROS have long been known to be damaging by-products of metabolism, but the concept that ROS modification of proteins plays a signalling role in the general function of neurons is rapidly gaining ground. Mitochondria generate ATP, but are also important organelles in neuronal signal transduction and are the main source of ROS. This meeting will explore how the roles of ROS and mitochondria intersect in neuronal signal transduction, the underlying biochemical processes and how these mechanisms modulate neuronal function. ROS and mitochondrial signalling are vitally important, not only in nervous system development and function, but also in neurological disease. The meeting will be relevant to researchers interested in basic mechanisms, but also those studying clinical aspects relating to diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer's disease and Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis among many others.